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‘Free up the ganja’: Rastafarians in Kenya fight to legalise marijuana

The Guardian UK Sunday 02 August 2026, 08:00 UTC By Carlos Mureithi in Nairobi 1 min read
Key Points

Marijuana plays a sacred role among Rastafari followers and they say a ruling to criminalise it violates their rightsAbout a dozen people sang along to the pulsing vibrations of drums and a tambourine in a dimly lit room in Nairobi’s sprawling Kibera neighbourhood. For more than an hour they belted out song after song, the lyrics suffused with references to Ethiopia, Jah, Zion, Rastafari and Haile Selassie I.One song went: “No night in a Zion, there is no night there / Hallelujah there is no...

Marijuana plays a sacred role among Rastafari followers and they say a ruling to criminalise it violates their rights

About a dozen people sang along to the pulsing vibrations of drums and a tambourine in a dimly lit room in Nairobi’s sprawling Kibera neighbourhood. For more than an hour they belted out song after song, the lyrics suffused with references to Ethiopia, Jah, Zion, Rastafari and Haile Selassie I.

One song went: “No night in a Zion, there is no night there / Hallelujah there is no night there / Rastafari is our light, and we need no other light / Hallelujah there is no night there.”

Continue reading...
Rastafarians (ORG) Kenya (LOCATION) Rastafari (PERSON) Nairobi (LOCATION) Kibera (LOCATION) Ethiopia (LOCATION) Jah, Zion (ORG) Haile Selassie (PERSON) Zion (LOCATION)
Originally published by The Guardian UK Read original →

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